Ethiopia warns rivals against invasion as regional tensions rise

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister has warned that anyone planning on invading his country should “think 10 times” before doing so because, he said, any attack would be repelled.

Abiy Ahmed did not direct his comments at any particular nation, but they come at a time of rising tensions with regional neighbours Somalia and Egypt.

Somalia has described a maritime pact that Mr Abiy’s government signed with the self-declared republic of Somaliland in January as an act of “aggression”, and has responded by forging closer military ties with Egypt.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia more than 30 years ago, but Mogadishu regards it as part of its territory.

Egypt has been involved in a long-running dispute of its own with Ethiopia over Addis Ababa’s decision to build a large dam on a tributary of the River Nile.

It is reportedly planning to send troops to Somalia following the signing of a military pact between the two governments last month.

In a televised address marking Ethiopia’s Sovereignty Day, Mr Abiy said the east African nation had no intention of creating conflict.

However, he said that “those who are afar and nearby” should know that “we usually embarrass and repel those who dare try to invade us”.

“Anyone intending to invade Ethiopia should think not just once but 10 times because one great thing we Ethiopians know is [how] to defend ourselves,” Mr Abiy added.

Somalia has been angered by landlocked Ethiopia’s decision to reach a deal with Somaliland to give it access to a port.

Somaliland has also said that it could lease a section of the coast to Ethiopia’s navy, in exchange for Mr Abiy’s government becoming the first to recognise it as an independent state.

Tensions in the region escalated last month after two Egyptian C-130 military planes arrived in Somalia’s capital to mark the strengthening of ties.

Egypt reportedly plans to send up to 5,000 soldiers to join a new-look African Union (AU) force in Somalia at the end of the year, with another 5,000 to be deployed separately.

An AU force has been in Somalia since 2007 to help the government fight al-Shabab, a jihadist group waging a brutal insurgency in the country.

Ethiopian troops are part of the force, but Somalia has announced that they will have to withdraw next year.

For its part, Egypt has accused Ethiopia of threatening its supply of water from the River Nile following the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) in the northern Ethiopia highlands, from where 85% of the Nile’s waters flow.

The Gerd is Africa’s biggest hydroelectric dam project, and Ethiopia sees it as vital to meeting its energy needs.